The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bus route opens up jobs in Berlin
BERLIN — Regional economic development officials are hoping a new bus route will connect transportation-challenged workers in Meriden and New Britain with careers in a local industrial park.
CT Transit Route 511 New Britain/Meriden is set to launch in March, said Chris Edge, economic development director for the town of Berlin. Edge sought the new route after learning that businesses in the Spruce Brook Industrial Park on New Park
Drive had everything they needed to grow, except workers.
“Instead of taking people to jobs, we want to be bringing people to careers,” Edge said.
The industrial park is home to Comcast, five locally owned manufacturers and two telecommunications companies. Edge said the idea was driven by the employers, and the bus schedule will work with the company shifts.
“We want to open up those careers to residents of New Britain and Meriden who don’t have cars,” Edge said. “There is an opportunity for these firms to grow and for people to have good paying careers potentially in the next town over.”
Route 511 will originate at the New Britain Transit Center, travel through Berlin to the Berlin Train Station, along the Berlin Turnpike to the Spruce Brook Industrial Park. It continues to the Meriden Transit Center where CTrail and local bus connections are available. Meriden residents need only to take the bus as far as the industrial park.
Edge calls the route, the “Career Corridor.”
Edge, who is also a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Economic Development Association, has worked intensely for two years with the CT Transit, the state Department of Transportation, members of the local business community and nonprofit partners. He’s also got the state Department of Labor on board to publicize career opportunities on the new line using phone apps.
“The new 511 route will start on Sunday, March 10,” said DOT spokeswoman Samaia Hernandez.
“Many factors go into how long it takes to get new service on the road, including identifying bus stops along the new route, hiring and training, as well as making sure equipment needs are in place.”
In 2017, the Capitol Region Council of Governments underwent a comprehensive analysis of the central Connecticut bus system that spurred Route 511 and others. Gov. Ned Lamont and the state legislature provided funding to expand bus services starting this fiscal year.
CT Transit already has a New Britain bus that travels the western part of Berlin to reach the Meriden Mall. Edge recognized that given the current retail and industrial market, the mall provides few jobs and even fewer careers.
“This potentially could be small steps towards prosperity,” he said. “Everything there is a career to make a living, buy a house. They could make enough to buy a car in a few months, but then the choice is theirs.”
Meriden Economic Development Director Joseph Feest rode the route with Edge when they were hashing out the idea.
“It’s a huge benefit,” Feest said. “There is a lot of opportunity there. Whenever you have transportation to get to a new career. It’s not just Meriden, this is connecting three towns to one route. Meriden is fortunate with the train. This is another quiver in our arsenal. A new bus route in general is a very difficult thing.”
The cities of Meriden and New Britain and Berlin will be publicizing the new route on their websites and marketing the new bus service. Edge has reached out to nonprofits, such as the YMCA and United Way, to familiarize their clients, and informed employers they can now use the route as a recruitment tool.
He said this is the first step in adding more stops to health care and other employers in the area. The challenge, he said, is finding a way to safely drop off passengers along the Berlin Turnpike.